


You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart

by be_merry



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-08
Updated: 2010-05-08
Packaged: 2017-11-12 11:53:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/490618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/be_merry/pseuds/be_merry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David Archuleta is a first year music teacher. David Cook is a kindergarten teacher. The one thing neither of them counted on was falling in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart

David hated being the new guy. Sitting in a room surrounded by strangers that all knew each other was his own personal version of Hell. The only thing that could possibly be worse would be if they were all staring at him. He sat quietly in the corner, eyes on the floor except for the occasional flicker upwards at the other people milling around the room, all talking animatedly about their summer vacations- variations of _You went where?_ , _Guess who I saw?_ and _It’s so good to see you again!_ echoing around the room. 

He was startled from his study of the mottled grey carpet as a blonde haired woman dressed sensibly in jeans and a t-shirt plopped down on the chair next to his. “Hi, you must be new! My name is Brooke and I teach second grade,” she announced cheerfully, practically shoving her hand in David’s face in her enthusiasm.

He tentatively reached out to shake the offered hand. “I’m David and I teach music.” He frowned. “Is it completely obvious that I’m new?”

“Well,” Brooke pretended to think for a moment, index finger resting on her chin. “Other than the fact that there was only one position that opened up at the end of the year and you’re the only new face I’ve seen today, the fact that you’re sitting over here all by yourself does tend to give it away.” She hopped up, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Come on, I’ll introduce you around.” When David hesitated, she wrapped an arm around his bicep and pulled. She really was deceptively strong for how thin she was. “I insist! Let’s go.”

“Okay, okay,” David chuckled. “I’m coming.” When she didn’t release her grip, he reached up and touched her hand. “You can let go. I promise I’m coming.”

Her eyes narrowed as she considered him. “You seem trustworthy enough but if you make a break for it, I’m latching on and not letting go until in-service actually starts and even then I’ll make you sit next to me.” After extracting another promise that David was not going to flee (though the thought did sound appealing right about now), she liberated his arm and started to wind her way through the crowd of people. 

She stopped in front of a loose ring of people and waited until the person telling a joke about a waterskiing penguin was done. Once the groans at the awfulness of the joke had died down, Brooke cleared her throat and all eyes shifted to her. “Alright, everybody,” she said, clapping her hands before gesturing to David. “This is my new friend, David. He was hired to fill Sandra’s old spot.” There were murmurs of acknowledgement and greeting before Brooke continued on. “David, this is Michael.” She gestured to a tall man with brown wavy hair to her left. He waved at David as Brooke continued her introductions. “He teaches fifth grade, bless his soul, and is absolutely crazy. Do not listen to a word he says. Next to Michael is Carly, Irish child whisperer extraordinaire.” 

The raven haired woman next to Michael laughed. “I don’t know about that,” the woman- Carly, David supposed- interrupted.

“Don’t listen to her. She’s amazing. She always has the best behaved class of fifth graders in the entire school. I doubt this is coincidence,” Brooke said, waving a dismissive hand in Carly’s direction. “And, last but not least, the owner of that truly atrocious joke.”

“Hey! I thought it was funny,” protested the man standing on David’s right. He was tall like Michael with a well groomed beard and eyes lit with laughter.

“You would,” Brooke answered before continuing her introduction. “David, I’d like to you meet David. He teaches kindergarten and tells horrible jokes but we like him in spite of that.”

David waved awkwardly at the group. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” The other David smiled lopsidedly and extended a hand. “Call me Cook, otherwise this is going to get confusing and Michael will come up with some brilliant way of naming us that will probably end in me being called ‘Thing One’ and you ‘Thing Two’ and that’s if we get lucky.”

“Don’t scare him off,” Brooke chided gently. “I like him.” Cook’s answering comment was cut off as a short tanned woman called for attention at the front of the room. David recognized her as Principal Abdul, the woman who had interviewed and subsequently given him the job on the spot, overjoyed by hi s resume. David secretly believed this to be because of a lack of applicants but didn’t want to be rude. People began shuffling to their seats and David turned to follow when a hand stopped him. “Oh, no you don’t,” Brooke told him, sunny grin lighting up her face. “You’re stuck with us now.” David thought he heard Michael mutter something that sounded like “run while you still can” but he couldn’t be certain.

***

In-service preceded almost exactly how David had expected and exactly how he had feared. Principal Abdul had started the morning off with the run of the mill announcements about things like making sure that you emptied the basket if you were the person lucky enough to get the last cup of coffee and other things along that vein before moving on. “As I’m sure all of you remember, Sandra retired at the end of last year, leaving us short one music teacher. Fortunately for us, I have found the perfect replacement for her. If he would be so kind as to stand up, I would like to introduce our newest staff member, David Archuleta.” Principal Abdul looked expectantly at David who, face tinged pink, stood and waved stiltedly at all of the faces staring at him as Brooke and her friends clapped. “I would ask him to say a few words but that might be on the cruel and unusual side of things so I’ll spare him since I’m sure you will all make sure that he feels welcome here at Fuller Elementary. Thank you, David,” she added as he sat back down in his seat between Brooke and Carly.

“You should be glad she didn’t make you sing,” Carly whispered. “She did that to Tony,” she pointed to a short man in what looked to be his early thirties across the room from where they sat, “the last new music teacher we got, and he got so flustered he ended up singing ‘I’m a Little Teapot’ just to get it over with.” 

David looked wide-eyed at Carly. “She really did that?”

Carly nodded solemnly. “Paula’s sweet, she’s just…not all there, I’m convinced. She’s got some crazy ideas sometimes.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” David promised before turning his attention back to the woman at the front of the room who was currently going over the schedule of events for the week.

A few more housekeeping items were checked off the agenda for the day before Principal Abdul declared it time for the first break of the day. David stayed in his seat, quietly hoping that no one would take the principal up on her order. He was not so lucky and was quickly surrounded by well-meaning and friendly people, all trying to introduce themselves at the same time. He met Abigail, Jan, and Sara, all of whom taught third grade, followed by Chris and Zachary, two of the PE coaches. By the time he was done shaking hands with them his fellow music teachers had made their way over to him.

“Hi,” a cheerful red haired woman who appeared to be in her early forties greeted David as she wrapped her arms around him. “I hope you don’t mind but I’m not a fan of handshakes. I prefer hugs; they’re much more personal.” She released him and stood back so that the man that had been pointed out to him earlier could shake his hand. “I’m Carolyn and this is Tony. We teach music here too so we’ll be working closely together. It’s so nice to meet you, David. I can already tell you’re going to fit in perfectly around here.”

“Thank you,” David answered politely, still slightly unnerved by the invasion of his personal space. He didn’t mind it so much when children did it but with adults, he preferred that it didn’t happen. Growing up with four siblings had definitely made David aware of the benefits of having his own space. “I can’t wait to get started on lesson plans. I’m really excited about this year since it’s my first one actually teaching. I enjoyed student teaching so I’m anxious to get started.” 

Before Carolyn could answer, a voice cut across the chatter, this time belonging to a man with dark hair and a British accent. “If you could all take your seats so we can get on with this,” he said with a bored look on his face. “The sooner we start going over the handbook, the sooner we finish and you can all go about your chit-chatting.” 

Brooke leaned over to David as she settled back into her chair, “That’s Simon. He’s the assistant principal. His bark is worse than his bite, I promise.”

“Now then, I’m assuming you can all read so I’ll only be pointing out the important bits and the bits that have changed from last year, so pay attention,” Simon instructed. “If you’ll all turn to page 5, we can get started.”

***

It was almost a quarter to noon before Simon declared them done with the handbook. David had tried hard to pay attention but Carly and Brooke kept leaning over to relay “helpful” stories about what had happened when people had broken such and such rule. When the girls weren’t talking to him he was distracted by Cook and Michael goofing around. Occasionally Simon would glare in their direction and they would sit up straight and adopt angelic faces until his gaze was directed elsewhere.

Since it was the first day, lunch was catered by one of the local sandwich shops and David stood quietly in line, making stilted small talk with the people intent on introducing themselves in attempt to make him feel welcome. Once he had gathered his lunch David glanced around the cafeteria where the teachers sat at the tables set up in anticipation of the students’ return the following week. Spying a quiet table off by itself in the corner David made his way over to it.

No sooner had David situated himself in his seat and flipped open his book than Cook dropped into the chair next to him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

David cocked his head. “Is this a trick question? I’m eating my lunch?”

“But what are you doing way over here all by yourself? Brooke sent me over here to tell you that’s not allowed.”

David made a face. “Not allowed? Why not?”

Cook shrugged a shoulder and quirked an eyebrow. “Brooke’s adopted you, man. You’re never allowed to leave our group. That’s just the way it works. Now, come on, I’ll help you carry your stuff.” He grabbed David’s plate and began walking across the cafeteria to where Brooke, Carly and Michael already sat; ignoring David’s protests that he just wanted to sit by himself and read his book. Shaking his head with a small smile, David gave up and replaced his bookmark before following Cook. David sat in the free space at the table, content to watch the others talk and mess around, a friendly fight over sports resulting in Cook and Michael throwing potato chips at each other. Before David knew it, it was time to head to his classroom to begin setting it up but not before Brooke extracted a promise from him that he would sit with them the next day. “She’ll hunt you down if you try to sit with someone else,” Michael had warned before walking in the direction of the fifth grade halls with Carly.

True to her word, Brooke had saved a seat for David the next morning. Smiling to himself, he took the seat and greeted everyone and received a chorus of _morning_ s back. The presentations resumed and, again, David tried to pay attention but the others were having none of it, Cook and Michael trying to draw him into their game of the morning. Lunch was filled with Cook telling David jokes that made him chuckle while everyone else at the table groaned before returning to his classroom for the afternoon. The rest of the week passed in a similar blur, leaving David completely satisfied with his first week at Fuller Elementary School.

***

David arrived at the school bright and early Monday morning, determined to have enough time to fix any last minute problems with his classroom and do anything else he still needed to have done. A glance around his classroom assured him that nothing was out of place and everything was just as he left it, though there was still 30 minutes before any children would be showing up at the school so he went in search of his new friends.

He found the small group in the teacher’s lounge, sitting around one of the round tables, each relaxing with a cup of whatever it was that woke them up in the morning- Michael, Carly and Cook each had a mug of coffee while Brooke nursed a cup of what looked like green tea. Michael was the first to spot him and made a beckoning motion as he called to him. “Thing Two! Or, wait, were you Thing One? I don’t remember.” He frowned as if giving the matter serious thought.

Carly shook her head before making eye contact with Cook. “You had to give him ideas last week, didn’t you? You realize he’s never going to let that die, right?”

Cook shrugged as David took the available seat at the table across from Michael and between Brooke and Carly. “He would have come up with it eventually.”

For some reason, this made Michael look pleased, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow at Carly. “Yeah, I’d have come up with it eventually.”

David chuckled quietly before joining the conversation. “I don’t know, Cook…” he trailed off until the others looked at him curiously. “That might be giving Michael a little too much credit.”

Cook whooped with laughter at the disgruntled face that Michael made. “You hear that? He’s got you figured out, Johns.”

“I’d watch your back, if I were you,” Michael threatened pointing a finger at David but ruined the effect by laughing good-naturedly along with everyone else.

By the time the others had finished their cups, it was time to head back to their rooms and prepare for the children to start showing up. David was excited about what the day was sure to bring; he had a good feeling about this year and the only way to find out if his feeling was right was to actually live it. The day passed mostly in a blur with a few hundred new names to learn (he was sure he could get them down by the end of the week, no matter what everyone else had told him) from the kindergarten classes- some of whom made some pretty adorable fumbles over his name before he finally asked them just to call him “Mr. A” for now- to the fifth graders who seemed to think that just because he was young they could run all over him. Thankfully, David had managed to disabuse most of them of the idea though there seemed to be a few holdouts but that was normal, he thought. 

He met Cook for lunch, thankful that at least one of his friends had the same lunchtime as him even if it meant he was required to hear at least one only sort of funny joke every day according to Carly. “How’s your class so far?” David had asked as soon as Cook sat down in attempt to ward off the supposedly inevitable joke.

Cook shrugged. “So far, so good but it’s only lunchtime on the first day. They’re cute but you can tell they’re still on their best behavior because about half of them have never been to any sort of school before and they don’t know what to expect. Give me about a week or so for them to get comfortable and then ask me how they are,” he answered with a wry smile. “How is your day going? Is it everything you’d hoped for?”

David nodded around a mouthful of tuna fish. “It’s great. The kids are fantastic and I can’t wait to get to the really fun stuff that I have planned,” he said when he’d swallowed. “I mean, a few of the older kids are convinced I’m a pushover because I look so young but it’s nothing I can’t handle. With four siblings, you learn how to hold your own or you get lost in the shuffle.”

Cook whistled appreciatively. “Four siblings, huh? I went crazy growing up with two.”

David laughed. “It’s not so bad, really. We all get along really well so it’s not like there were a lot of fights or anything. What was it like when you were growing up?”

Cook chuckled. “With three boys in one small house? The word ‘crazy’ comes to mind.”

“Tell me,” David prompted, curious now. Never one to turn down a chance to talk about his brothers, Cook quickly acquiesced, telling stories of the time he and his brothers built a (less than sturdy) tree house and the time his mother had threatened to disown all of them when she returned early from a weekend away to find a party in progress in her living room. Before either of them realized it, it was time for Cook to pick his class up from the cafeteria and for David to return to his classroom.

“Tomorrow it’s your turn,” Cook said, fixing David with a stare that assured him that there was no getting out of this which caused David to spend most of the rest of the day wracking his brain, trying to find stories that would live up to Cook’s.

***

When David entered the teachers’ lounge for lunch the next day, Cook was sitting at the same table that they used in the morning waiting patiently. David retrieved his lunch from the refrigerator before joining him. “Alright, your turn,” Cook had simply stated, completely disregarding pleasantries. “I shared my dirty secrets with you yesterday. Now you get to spill.”

“I think you’re going to be disappointed,” David hedged as he unpacked his _Finding Nemo_ lunchbox (it was a gift from his sister; he couldn’t _not_ use it. Besides, he needed a lunchbox anyway). “My childhood was nowhere near as exciting as yours.” Cook made a _continue_ motion as he chewed a bite of pizza so David told Cook about how his family went caroling every Christmas, about the time that Claudia had convinced Daniel that he could fly and his Mom had barely managed to stop him from jumping off the stairs to prove it and a few others that came to mind as he spoke.

Again their break passed much quicker than either thought possible, David caught up in telling stories of his brother and sisters and Cook asking occasional questions and poking good-hearted fun at him. “I’d say we’re even on telling embarrassing childhood stories,” Cook declared as David wrapped up a story involving Jazzy, Amber, toothpaste and one of the cats. “I’ll see you in a little bit when I drop my kiddos off with you.”

“I can’t wait,” David had answered truthfully, eager to meet more of his students, before waving good-bye and heading down the hallway from Cook.

Cook’s kids were David’s last class of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and David had to agree with Cook’s assessment from the day before- they were quite cute. David sat on the floor with them, the class gathered in a circle (or as close to one as they could manage. In truth it looked more like an octagon but they _tried_ and that was what mattered after all). He went around the circle, letting each child introduce themselves and to tell something special they wanted everyone to know. The little girl with unruly curls and the pink dress introduced herself as Claire and wanted everyone to know that she was going to be a princess when she grew up while the boy with the near buzz cut and a wide smile named James told them that he was going to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. David could already tell that these kids were going to keep Cook on his toes this year but that he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

***

David looked up at the tall, sweeping building in front of him. There was only one Mormon Church in town so it was an easy choice where he was going to be on Sunday morning but he still felt that slight awkwardness that came from not knowing anyone when surrounded by a sea of faces. Sighing deeply, he climbed the stairs to the entryway. He gazed around the entryway of the sanctuary, praying to find an empty pew.

It seemed that his prayers were answered when he saw a pew in the back row that was unoccupied, next to a couple with a new baby. He whispered a _thank you_ before taking the seat and looking around the rest of the room. He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt someone touch his arm.

“David?” He turned towards the voice to see Brooke standing in the aisle next to him. “It is you! I didn’t know you were Mormon! I knew I liked you for a reason. Do you mind if I sit next to you?”

“Uh, yeah, go ahead,” David answered as Brooke proceeded to make herself comfortable next to him.

“How did you enjoy your first week at Fuller Elementary?” she asked once she was settled.

“I loved it,” David answered truthfully. “The kids were great and I get along with almost everyone I’ve met so I think it’s going to be a good year. How was your first week?”

“I’m convinced I was given the class full of smart alecks but other than that, it went well,” she said, finishing at almost a whisper as the service began. “We’ll talk more later, when service is over.”

True to her word, Brooke made sure that they talked after worship, insisting that she take him out to lunch to celebrate surviving his first week as a certified teacher no matter how much David protested that it wasn’t necessary. “Of course it’s necessary,” she’d replied, waving off his protests. “I want to get to know you better. I can tell we’re going to be great friends and I think we should start now since I hardly see you during the school day.” David could tell it was pointless to argue with her and gave in graciously, following her out of the church to the parking lot.

***

“Hey, David!” David heard as he headed towards the exit that led to the faculty parking lot. He turned around, trying to identify who called for him. A smile broke out across his face as Cook came into view from the hallway that led to the kindergarten classrooms.

“Cook! What are you still doing here?”

Cook glanced at the watch on his right wrist and frowned. “It’s not that late, man.”

David mentally flapped his hands. He wasn’t sure how he did it but in the three weeks he had known Cook, he always managed to make his most idiotic comments around him. It was like Cook made his brain short circuit or something for reasons David didn’t want to examine too closely. “Oh, I didn’t—I mean...”

Cook laughed and ( _thankfully_ ) interrupted David. “I had to set up my classroom for Monday. Anyway, I was hoping to catch you before you left. I wanted to ask you- what are your plans for tonight?”

David bit the inside of his cheek, trying to think of something _cool_ to tell Cook, something other than sitting by himself in his apartment watching _Foster’s_ reruns on Nickelodeon. He gave it up as a lost cause after a few seconds of frantic thought. “Nothing?” he finally answered, feeling beyond lame.

Cook’s grin widened, almost splitting his face in half. “Awesome,” he breathed, wrapping an arm around David’s shoulders, steering him back towards the door to the parking lot. David felt inordinately pleased with himself for managing to elicit that kind of response from Cook. “Some of us are going out for drinks tonight. It’s our every other week ritual that may or may not coincide with payday. Why don’t you come with us?”

David’s elation waned. “Oh, no, I couldn’t,” he answered shaking his head.

Cook’s smile lessened slightly but refused to disappear. “Why not? You just said you had no plans. Unless...” he paused, considering, “you have something awesome planned that you don’t want to tell me about. A hot date, perhaps?”

“What? No, it’s not that,” David hurriedly assured the other man. “It’s just, uh, I don’t drink.”

“Awesome. Tonight, I don’t either. It’s my turn to be designated driver and I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be sober with in a room full of drunks than you. We can chill out and watch everyone else make as--” he paused for a moment, “ _fools_ of themselves.”

David made a face. “I don’t know... I’ve never been to a bar before.”

“Relax, David, it’s not like they’re going to force you to drink if you don’t want to. I’ll protect your virtue, promise.”

David flushed at the mention of his virtue. “I still don’t think…”

Cook dropped his arm and looked sadly at David, puppy eyes in full effect. “Come on, David, _please_? For me? It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“I—oh, alright. Just stop looking at me like that. You’ve learned too well from some of your students,” David finally agreed, hunching into himself as Cook laughed victoriously, wrapped an arm around him again, ruffling his hair.

“Thanks, kid. I’ll pick you up around 7-ish, if that’s okay?”

“I guess?” David set his briefcase down on his car and dug through it until he found a blank piece of paper. He quickly scribbled down his address and apartment number before adding his cell phone number as an afterthought. “See you then.”

“Awesome.” Cook grabbed the paper and pen and scribbled his own phone number. He ripped the paper in half, handed David the appropriate half and headed to his own car cheerfully whistling a song David didn’t recognize.

***

Around 6:00 was when David began to freak out. He stood before his closet freshly showered, wondering what he was supposed to wear. Could he google this? Maybe he could find a tv show on that was set in a bar? Should he call Cook? He’d already admitted to Cook that he’d never been to a bar so maybe Cook wouldn’t laugh at him too much?

David frowned at himself. He could do this. Maybe. First things first- pants. He gave the slacks hanging in his closet a dubious glance. Jeans were probably his best bet he decided as he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a fresh pair. David felt a little better now. Now to choose a shirt. This was where he was stumped. Maybe he _should_ call Cook?

David finally gave up and settled on a plain black t-shirt deciding it was probably the safest bet. He glanced at the clock sitting on his bedside table. “6:38? Oh, my heck. When did it get so late? Cook will be here any minute!” He hurried back into the bathroom, bare feet slapping against the tile. He glared at his hair which definitely had a mind of its own that night before running a comb through it. When that didn’t tame it, he grabbed the small bottle of gel that sat on the countertop. After a few minutes he was… well, not satisfied but reasonably happy with the way his hair looked.

David finished tying his shoe moments before his cell phone began ringing. He grabbed it without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hello, David,” a female voice answered from the earpiece.

David slumped against his couch, glad the speaker couldn’t see him at that moment. “Hi, Mama.” He eyed the clock standing on his mantle. “Listen, Mama, can I call you tomorrow? I’m actually about to meet up with some friends…”

David’s mother laughed down the phone line. “Don’t sound so nervous, David. It’s not like I’m going to get mad at you for having plans. Go and have fun, mijo. Call me tomorrow and we can talk then. Te amo.”

“Te amo, Mama,” David answered and once again promised to call the next day. He disconnected his phone and checked the time again. David sat in silence fiddling with his phone to pass the time. He jumped when his ringtone interrupted his (rather intense) game of Tetris. He fumbled with the phone, exiting the game so he could answer the call. “Hello?”

“Hey, David,” the warmth in Cook’s voice was unmistakable even over the phone. “I’m here. Sorry I’m late but Johns took forever putting on his make-up.” David heard Michael call Cook something he would never dream of saying as Cook continued talking. “Anyway, whenever you’re ready, come on down.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” David promised, patting himself down to make sure he had his wallet and his keys. “Bye.” He disconnected after Cook returned the sentiment, turned off the overhead light and made sure the door was locked before heading to the parking lot.

The ride to the bar was definitely interesting. David sat in the back with Carly and Brooke, wedged between the two while Michael rode up front with Cook having refused to relinquish the front passenger seat when Cook had told him to, saying that David hadn’t earned the right yet. Cook had looked as though he was going to insist before David had interrupted saying that he’d like to sit in the back with the girls. Carly and Brooke had quickly agreed with this idea, saying that David made for better company anyway.

The radio was turned low so David could only catch snatches of what was on whenever Cook sang along softly during breaks in the conversation. Michael was filling David in on a week’s worth of gossip from work, Carly and Brooke interjecting and correcting him where necessary. As David contented himself with sitting back and listening, he was relieved to observe that he had apparently done well for himself- everyone else was wearing jeans though the women were slightly dressier than the men but David supposed that was par for the course since the women usually looked nicer at work too.

Cook parked in front of a brick building with the entryway painted green and _Paddy’s_ scrawled across the front of the building in green letters. “Last stop, everybody out!” Cook announced cheerfully as he opened his own door.

Michael walked through the door first and paused on the threshold with his arms spread. “Home, sweet home,” he said, his tone of voice that of someone who hadn’t seen a loved one in years.

“Yeah, yeah,” Carly answered dismissively pushing roughly at Michael’s back. “Get a move on; some of us would like to drink sometime soon.”

David followed the rest of the group in much more sedately, taking in his surroundings quietly. The bar was not exactly what he’d pictured in his mind. It wasn’t necessarily _dirty_ though it was definitely on the run-down side of things. While it wasn’t a large space it wasn’t overly crowded either with the bar on one side of the room and booths lining the opposite wall, tables dotting the space in between with a pool table partially hidden in the back. As he was taking all of this in, he followed Cook to a booth towards the back of the bar near the pool table. 

David sat down on the side facing the door and scooted over towards the wall. He was surprised when Cook slid in next to him since he’d been expecting him to take the opposite seat with one of the girls. Not that he was exactly complaining or anything, just pleasantly surprised. 

He returned the smile Cook sent his way before letting his gaze slide over to the bar where a red-haired woman was handing cups to Brooke, Carly and Michael while talking or possibly arguing with a few dark-haired men who were loitering around the bar. David flinched when he heard her yell, “Damn it, Bradley!” before storming into a room in the back of the bar and slamming the door. Michael was laughing as he reached the table while Carly shook her head. “Poor Katie; they really give her a lot shit, don’t they?”

“Always!” Michael answered still laughing. “But she gives it right back, don’t you worry.”

Brooke took pity on David as she slid into the seat across from him. “Michael’s friends with the owners- Bradley, Colin and Jeffrey,” she said, pointing to the cluster of men still standing at the bar, now laughing uproariously. “That was Jeffrey’s girlfriend Katie that just left. Between the four of them, they’re always arguing about something. Don’t pay them any attention. Here’s your water; it’s the only other thing they have here besides the alcohol.” She pushed two glasses with clear liquid across the table towards David and Cook as Carly set down a glass with amber liquid in it. Brooke took a sip from it before returning it to its spot on the table. “What?”

David shut his mouth, remembering that it was rude to gawk. “Nothing. It’s nothing,” he answered quickly. He paused before continuing. “It’s just--” he frowned, not quite sure how to say what he wanted without being rude. “It’s just, I thought you were Mormon.”

Brooke nodded as she answered. “I am! I’m just…not exactly the world’s _best_ Mormon. More of a laid-back kind of Mormon, if you will.” She fixed David with a serious look. “That’s not going to be a problem is it? Because I really like hanging out with you, David, and I don’t want to upset you, though I’m not going to change who I am.”

“What? Uh, no, you’re fine,” David hurriedly assured her, though internally he still frowned some but as his mother used to always say, it wasn’t his place to judge.

“Now that we have _that_ settled,” Michael interrupted, “let’s have some real fun!” 

And, David found, despite all his reservations, he did enjoy himself, even if Michael’s definition of “real fun” was apparently drinking his body weight in alcohol. Michael really was kind of nice when he wasn’t constantly offering to babysit David (why Michael was convinced David needed to be babysat still baffled him but David chose to blame most of his behavior on the alcohol and mentally added it to his list of reasons why it was a bad idea to ever drink). The highlight of the night, David decided, had to be when, after a while of sitting uncomfortably at the table as the others talked about things that had happened before David joined their ranks, Cook had taken pity on him and silently pulled him out of the booth while the girls were too wrapped up in a story Michael was telling about Colin and Bradley and led him over to the pool table. “Do you know how to play?” Cook had asked him and hadn’t looked surprised when David had shaken his head ‘no’. “Unless you have any objections, I’m going to teach you how,” he announced, pulling two sticks from the rack on the wall. David assured Cook that he didn’t as he handed one to David and kept the other for himself.

By the time they left Paddy’s that night, David was actually not half-bad, if he did say so himself.

***

The next day David slept late and blamed it on being out too late with his friends the night before. He shuffled from his bedroom to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of orange juice before checking the time. Once he had assured himself that it was late enough in Utah that his mother would be up, he fetched his phone and pressed her number on his speed dial. They exchanged pleasantries as David began unpacking one of the boxes still sitting on his counter, putting away things like his blender (David’s not even sure why he has one, let alone where to put it so it gets stuffed in the back of a cabinet with more pertinent things hiding it) and his coffee mugs that only ever get used for tea.

Right around the time the box is finally empty, David’s mom asked about his first week teaching. By the time he finished telling her about his classes and moved on to talking about his coworkers, he had emptied two of the boxes piled in his living room and begun arranging his CDs to his liking on their shelves. By the time they hung up an hour later, David’s CD and DVD collections are exactly how he wants them and his mom knows so much about his new friends, it’s probably embarrassing (David is definitely not thinking about how most of it was about Cook, which has to be some kind of fluke). He is also caught up on all the family news, from Claudia’s new boyfriend to Jazzy’s sudden interest in ballet, and the apartment that he’d been steadily working on in attempt to make it feel like _home_ suddenly couldn’t feel less like it and David once again wished he’d listened to his mother and applied for a job closer to home.

***

“Okay, man, I have to ask,” Cook said interrupting the comfortable silence as he and David ate lunch one Thursday. “I’ve been staring at your lunchbox for a month now. What’s with the _Finding Nemo_? Did you steal it from one of your little sisters?”

David felt himself blush. “Not exactly. My older sister, Claudia- you remember me talking about her?- gave it to me as a gift to celebrate me getting my first job. It was kind of a joke, I suppose, but since _Finding Nemo_ is my favorite movie and I needed a lunchbox anyway, I decided to keep it.”

Cook bobbed his head, signaling his approval of the logic. “That’s good enough for me. Hey, did I ever tell you the one about the dancing giraffes?”

***

David felt excited about Halloween for the first time in a very long time. Not only were there fun songs to sing with the kids (like the one about the five little pumpkins) and _It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown_ on tv but he had an honest to goodness Halloween party to go to this year. Granted, this meant lots of people he didn’t know ( _Michael_ was throwing it which should explain everything) and lots of drinking but he couldn’t wait to see what costumes the others had put together, even if his was more on the embarrassing side than anything. Maybe the fact that there was going to be alcohol would mean that no one would remember it the next day; he’d just have to be careful to avoid any and all cameras.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” David moaned again, looking down at his costume, pulling at the green tights. Sure, he liked Peter Pan but that didn’t mean that he wanted to **be** him. He got teased enough about looking too young without adding to it and he was fairly certain that Brooke had gotten the wrong sized costume. There was no way Peter Pan’s clothes were supposed to be this short.

Brooke, of course, looked beautiful. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she wore a short green dress with wings attached to the back, body glitter glinting as it caught the light. “You said yourself that you couldn’t come up with anything better. Next year you’re free to do whatever you want. I suggest you start thinking because I’ve already come up with some good ones.”

David stared at her in horror. “Why am I friends with you?”

“Because I’m awesome and we make an adorable Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Now stop messing with your tights and come on,” Brooke answered before opening the door to Michael’s house.

Inside the party was already in full swing (it had taken David a really long time to get the tights on correctly, as Brooke was happy to point out the entire time he struggled with them. He really hoped he didn’t have to go to the bathroom while he was here.). David saw people dressed as characters from Star Wars (though he was pretty sure that Han Solo never made out with Luke Skywalker like the two in the corner were doing) all the way to people dressed in barely anything at all.

The first person they spotted that David knew (Brooke, of course, knew almost everybody at the party, it seemed) was Carly, though he wasn’t really sure who she was supposed to be. She was dressed in all black from her leather pants to her tank top to her jacket with an orange smiley face attached to her shirt and one of those Egyptian cross-type things hanging around her neck (an ankh, if he remembered correctly from Claudia’s fascination with ancient Egypt). “I’m Death,” she helpfully explained once David confessed he had no idea who she was. “She’s from Neil Gaiman’s books and she’s pretty kick ass, if I do say so myself.”

“She, uh, looks it,” he answered politely, not sure what else to say. He was spared from having to come up with anything else as someone whistled appreciatively behind him. When he turned around to see that it was Cook, he felt his face heat up and he tried to surreptitiously pull his clothes down a little lower.

“Brooke! You look fantastic,” he told her as he looked her over. “Tinker Bell looks good on you.” 

Brooke practically preened at his words. “Thank you. That means so much coming from the original boy who never grew up.”

Cook grinned. “I will gladly accept that title. Death looks exceptionally good tonight too, Carly. Awesome costume.”

“Finally someone knows who I am without having to ask!” Carly said gleefully. “Though I have to say, I’m not sure who _you_ are.”

Cook looked down at himself. He had on a pair of artfully ripped jeans and an Our Lady Peace shirt. “I’m a rock star.” He raised the blow up guitar he held in his hand as evidence.

“A rock star?” Brooke asked, laughing.

Cook rubbed the back of his neck, blushing slightly. “It was the only thing I could think of. By the time I got to the costume shop, everything good was sold out and there was no way I was going to be Winnie-the-Pooh or something like that. Though I have to say, the tights look good on you, David.”

David blushed again. “It was Brooke’s idea.”

“And a good idea it was,” Cook grinned at the red staining David’s cheeks.

“Alright, Cook, let the poor boy be and point me in the direction of the drinks,” Brooke interrupted laughing. 

“Now that sounds like a good idea to me,” Carly said while Cook made a vague gesture to the doorway behind where the girls were standing. Carly grabbed the other woman’s hand before starting off in the direction Cook had indicated. “Come on, Brookie.” With that, the two men were suddenly left by themselves. 

“So, uh, a rock star?” David asked awkwardly, still pulling at the bottom of his costume.

“My childhood dream,” Cook confided. “How did Brooke talk you into yours?”

“I really suck at coming up with costumes and she told me that she had a great idea. I didn’t find out until tonight what her great idea was.”

Cook laughed. “She’s good at that. She did the same thing to me her first year here, though, thankfully, I had pants.”

“Who needs pants? They’re entirely over-rated.” 

“Apparently not David,” Cook answered as he turned to face Michael. He scoffed at what he saw- tall black boots, black pants, billowy white shirt and black vest, with an eye patch and a hat with a long feather sticking out of it. “Really, Johns? A pirate? How lame can you get? If you were Jack Sparrow, I might give you some points but you’re just a nameless pirate and therefore, kind of cliché.”

Michael made a face at Cook. “I get to drink alcohol, curse, call men ‘scallywags’ and women ‘wenches’ and not get slapped? It’s Christmas come early, mate!” 

Cook frowned. “You do most of that on a daily basis anyway.” 

“Yes, but the ‘not getting slapped’ idea is particularly appealing, let me tell you,” Michael said, winking in David’s direction before walking off. 

“Probably going test that ‘not going to get slapped’ theory,” Cook whispered. “Come on, I want to see what happens when he tries that on Carly.”

As it turned out, they didn’t actually need to follow Michael. Carly’s voice was audible above the murmur of the party, even halfway across the house. Cook held his sides as he laughed while David cringed at some of the words he heard Carly calling Michael. (David was sure he didn’t want to know where she learned that last one.)

After the exciting beginning, the rest of the party seemed relatively calm. David stayed close to Cook for the rest of the night, content to follow in his wake among all the strangers. Much to David’s amusement, practically everyone they met tried to shove a red plastic cup into Cook’s hand, demanding that he drink it saying that it wasn’t a party unless you were well on your way to not remembering it in the morning. Cook continually turned the offers down, saying that he was on his way to the bar himself and he’d get the two of them their own drinks. When they finally made it to the bar, Cook grabbed two cups but only filled them with water, much to David’s surprise. “I don’t feel like drinking tonight,” was all Cook would say when David mentioned it.

Armed with their own red cups, no one tried to foist more drinks off on them, though they couldn’t manage to walk through a room without someone stopping Cook to talk to him. Cook tried his best to engage David in these but mostly David hovered behind his shoulder, still fiddling with his costume and wishing that the party hadn’t gotten quite so loud. After thirty uncomfortable minutes of David pulling at his costume, Cook took pity on him and stole a pair of Michael’s pants. “I promise I’ll take the heat for it,” Cook swore, pushing the pants into David’s hands. “But there’s no way you can enjoy yourself if you’re that worried about your costume. Trust me when I say that, by the end of the night, no one will even notice.”

It turned out that no one ever did notice because the two of them spent most of the rest of the night in the backyard where it wasn’t as crowded (in fact, it was empty) and the noise level wasn’t quite so deafening. David took great pleasure in pointing out constellations that he remembered from his youth in the Boy Scouts and Cook took equal pleasure from making up his own and telling elaborate stories about their origin. All in all, David was pleased to consider his first Halloween party a success.

***

“Brooke, I think I have a problem,” David announced one cold November afternoon as the two headed towards their favorite after-church restaurant.

“You _think_ you do, or you know you do?” she teased, linking an arm through his.

“ **Brooke** ,” David said. “I’m serious.”

“Okay, okay,” she answered, growing somber. “Tell me all about it and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

David waited until they were seated and their drink orders had been taken before continuing. “I think…I think I have a crush on Cook,” he said quietly.

“Wait, _this_ is your problem?” she asked, laughing cheerfully.

“It’s not funny, Brooke,” he hissed.

“Of course it is! I don’t understand why you’re angsting over this. You like Cook, Cook obviously likes you. I fail to see the problem here.”

“What do you mean you don’t… Wait, Cook likes me?”

“This isn’t exactly news, David. Cook’s been head over heels for you for a while. You don’t think the rest of us haven’t noticed how often he’s volunteered to be designated driver lately, even when it’s not his turn? How even when he’s not designated driver, he usually drinks water and leaves the rest of us at the table to play pool with you- something he never did before you started coming with us? He’s got it bad, David, almost as bad as you,” Brooke answered, a gentle smile on her face.

David blinked at Brooke, not sure how to take this news. “Aren’t you supposed to be telling me that it’s against the Bible for me to love another man? That I’m sinning against God?”

Brooke laughed again. “Remember what I told you before David- I’m not the world’s best Mormon. If you want someone to tell you all of that, you came to the wrong girl. Me? My advice is more along the lines of ‘get it boy, get it!’ Besides, you have to admit that you and Cook would make the world’s cutest couple.”

David buried his face in his hands. “Why am I friends with you?”

***

“Before Thing One and Thing Two run off and leave us to play pool like usual, I have to ask. What are everyone’s Christmas plans?” Michael asked as everyone sat around their usual table at Paddy’s.

“I’m going home to Arizona,” Brooke answered first, setting her empty cup down on the table. “It’s been awhile and my sister just had her baby so I’m kind of required to go. Besides, who doesn’t love playing with small children? I can’t wait to spoil my little niece rotten.”

Carly grinned. “I demand pictures, just so you know.” Brooke nodded her acceptance of this demand before Carly continued. “My best friend from Ireland is getting married in New York and I’m the Maid of Honor so I think you can guess where I’ll be. It’s not like I haven’t been telling you about this all semester, Johns. I swear, you’re worse than the kids when it comes to listening.”

Michael grinned cheekily. “I try my best, Ms. Smithson,” he said, failing completely at his attempt to sound sincere. “What about you, Thing One and Thing Two?”

“I’m staying here,” David said, frowning. “I really wish I could go home but I’ve got student loans I need to pay back, unfortunately, so I can’t afford it.”

“I’m staying too,” Cook said. “So you won’t be the only one stuck here. Maybe we can hang out sometime.”

Michael tilted his head, confusion written on his features. “What? But you always go home, mate. Ouch!” he cried, leaning down to rub at his shin. “What the hell was that for?” He glared at Carly.

“You never told us what you were doing for the holidays,” Brooke quickly interrupted.

“I’m going to Colorado to ski,” Michael announced proudly, bruised shin forgotten. “Hopefully I’ll meet a pretty girl or two while I’m there.” He winked in David’s direction.

“That’s, uh, nice,” David said. “I didn’t know you could ski.”

“‘Course I can ski. I’m like a god on the slopes!” Michael said arms spread wide as if to support his argument.

“Uh-huh. On that note, I’m going to play pool,” Cook said as he slid out of the booth. “Care to play, David?” David nodded and followed Cook over to the table.

***

David’s phone vibrated across the table signaling the arrival of a text message as it sang out “The Remedy” by Jason Mraz. David turned off the water and dried his hands before reaching for the phone and smiled when he saw that the message was from Cook.

_You busy?_

_No. What’s going on?_

_I’m bored. :(_

David chuckled. _What do you want me to do about it?_

_Entertain me. Duh._

_Aren’t you able to entertain yourself?_

_Why should I when you’re so qualified for the job?_

David made a face at his phone. “Since when did it become my job to keep you entertained?” he asked when Cook answered halfway through the first ring.

“It’s been your job for a while, you just haven’t noticed,” Cook answered laughing. “Come on. You said yourself that you’re not doing anything. Come hang out with me.”

David sighed, pretending to think about it. “I guess…”

“Sweet. Thanks, man. You won’t regret this,” Cook swore. “I’ll be around the pick you up in about an hour?”

“Sure?”

“Awesome. See you then.”

“Yeah. See you,” David answered before disconnecting the phone.

An hour later David was walking down to meet Cook in the parking lot. Once he was buckled in and Cook was driving away he couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Cook said cryptically, refusing to give into David’s prodding about where they were going. Minutes later, as he put the car in park, he grinned gleefully at David.

“Mini-golf?” David asked sure that Cook was pulling his leg.

“Well, I wanted to go golfing for real, but I wasn’t sure I could convince you to do that,” Cook answered, shrugging. “At least I didn’t surprise you with bowling.”

“I might actually have a chance if we went bowling,” David muttered, pushing the car door closed maybe just a little bit harder than he really needed to.

“Oh, come on, don’t sell yourself short. You’ll be fine.”

***

“Maybe I should have taken you bowling,” Cook said, scratching the back of his neck. “I thought everyone was good at mini-golf.”

“Shut. Up.” David’s arms were folded across his chest and he was pretending to nurse his wounded pride. Cook had been unfairly **good** at mini-golf whereas David had been reduced to, well, not _cheating_. More like, he had to help his ball along when Cook wasn’t looking or risk never making it off the first hole. It had been a long afternoon of Cook laughing (“ _With_ you, David. Not _at_ you, I swear.”) and David pretending to subtly nudge his ball while Cook pretended he was looking somewhere else. Around Hole Six, Cook had begun making wild (and impossible) shots like trying to get the ball to go over the elephant rather than under it, just to make David feel better. David had to admit, though he would never tell Cook, that it had been a ridiculously fun afternoon.

“Fun’s not over yet,” Cook announced as though reading David’s thoughts. “It’s time for dinner!”

David eyed Cook warily. He’d seen Cook’s lunches for the past few months and he was pretty sure the man existed solely off pizza, a food David wasn’t too fond of, if he was honest. “I don’t--”

“ _Trust me_ ,” Cook interrupted and it really wasn’t fair the way he managed to make it sound like David’s trust was the one thing he wanted.

“Okay, okay,” David held his hands up in a faux defensive manner. “You can choose where we have dinner.”

Cook’s smile was back. “Awesome.” As Cook turned into the Chick-fil-a parking lot David decided that Cook did not exist _solely_ on pizza, just mostly. “I prefer going inside, if that’s okay with you?”

“That’s fine,” David assured him as Cook eased into a parking space. The two walked into the restaurant in companionable silence where they were greeted by the sight of a large walking cow, several balloon animals and quite a number of children from their school. Cook’s brow crinkled before David pointed out the sign both of them had missed out the window proclaiming tonight as Children’s Night right about the time Sophia wrapped herself around one of Cook’s legs with an arm thrown around David’s for good measure.

“MR. COOK! MR. ARCHULETA!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” she shrieked in excitement.

Cook leaned down to unwrap her from his leg before giving her a proper hug. “Mr. Archuleta and I are here to eat dinner.”

“ME TOO, ME TOO!” she said quickly.

“That’s awesome,” Cook said, voice low and soothing in attempt to counteract the effects of the girl’s overly excited personality. “But, honey, where are your mommy and daddy? Did you ask before you ran over here to see us?”

She hung her head. “Nooooo.”

“What have we talked about in class?”

“I need to stay with mommy and daddy and not run through a bunch of strangers.”

“Good job remembering,” Cook said encouragingly, holding up a hand which she quickly high-fived. “What do you say we go find them?”

“Can Mr. Archuleta come too?” She asked, eyes lighting up again.

Cook looked up from his crouch. “What do you think, Mr. Archuleta? Do you think you could walk with us?”

David moved his hand from where it had been hiding his smile and offered it to Sophia instead. “Of course.”

“YAY!” she squealed, one hand latched onto Cook and the other firmly grasping David’s before they were off. They found her parents in a matter of moments (it wasn’t a large restaurant after all) and Sophia excitedly introduced them as her “favorite-est teachers _ever_ ”. After a few moments of small talk, it was time for Sophia’s family to leave, but not before Sophia gave Cook and David another bear hug each and continued to wave good-bye over her shoulder until they were out of the restaurant.

By the time they had ordered, been served and found a booth to sit in, they had talked to a total of ten more students, some of them Cook’s and some of them David’s. 

“Who knew dinner was going to be so exhausting?” Cook asked eyes still lit with mirth.

“Hazard of the job?” David offered before biting into one of his waffle fries.  
Cook nodded, taking a sip of his drink. “Hang on. I’ll be right back,” he said when he finished, sliding out of the booth as he did.

David shrugged to himself, figuring that Cook had seen yet another person that he knew and continued to work on his waffle fries (the best part of Chick-fil-a if he were honest). He jumped when he felt something touch his head and he raised a hand to ward off whatever it was. “What are you doing?” he asked in response to Cook’s impish laughter.

Cook batted his hand away. “Stop that. I get you a present and this is your reaction?”

“You got me a what?”

“A present,” Cook said again, giving up on putting it on his head and handing it to David. “It” turned out to be a balloon hat that matched the one sitting on Cook’s head. David bit his lip, willing the giggles not to escape. When he failed, Cook looked up sharply. “I will have you know, balloon hats are the best part of Kid’s Night. If you don’t like yours, give it back and I’ll give it to someone who’s more appreciative,” Cook said, hand held out for the hat.

“No, no, no,” David said quickly as he shoved the hat back down on his head. “I like it. I really do.”

Cook’s boyish grin lit up his face again. “I’m glad.”

***

David was barely inside his apartment before he had his phone out, dialing Brooke’s number.

“David! It’s so good to hear from you. My niece is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, I swear to you,” Brooke said in a rush as soon as she’d answered the phone.

“That’s… really nice,” David answered, pacing his living room anxiously.

“Alright, wait, I know that tone of voice,” Brooke said, her own tone growing serious. “What’s wrong?”

David bit his lip, not sure how best to put it. Taking a deep breath, he decided that there really was no way to say it, other than to just say it. “You know how I told you before that I might have a crush on Cook?”

Brooke made a soft noise of assent.

“I was wrong. I _definitely_ have a crush on Cook.” He dragged a hand through his hair, making it stand out at impossible angles.

“And the problem with this is….”

David made a frustrated noise. “Brooke, have you forgotten what the Bible says?”

“David,” she said gently. “Have you?”

That stopped him mid-pace. “What?”

“Do me a favor,” she prompted. “Go get your Bible for me.” 

David retrieved the book from beside his bed. “Now what?”

“Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. Read verses four to seven for me.”

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres,” he read quietly, still confused where Brooke was going with all of this.

“Alright, now answer me this: did it say anywhere in that passage that love is only heterosexual?”

“No?”

“Darn straight, it didn’t. David, love isn’t defined by what gender you are. The outside is just the packaging. What matters is what’s on the inside. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“Yeah?” David answered. “Kind of?”

“Well, then, my mission here is ‘kind of’ accomplished,” Brooke said. “Think about what I said, David. Call me again if you need to but think about it, please.”

David promised he would before disconnecting the call. He stood in his room, standing over his desk, staring down at his open Bible. Did Brooke really have a point or was she saying it just to make him feel better? What would his parents say if they knew what he was considering? He had never been gladder for the distance he’d previously lamented, the space to determine what he believed without the church deciding it for him.

***

“Knock, knock!” David looked up from where he had his head pillowed on his arms to find Cook leaning against the door of his classroom. “You coming tonight? Water’s on me.”

David shook his head. The first week back had not been kind to David and cranky kids who had become used to getting their way just because they whined enough had done a number on his nerves. “I don’t think so. I really don’t feel up to it tonight. It was a rough day and I just want to go home and sleep.”

“Come on, David, please? I’ll even let you beat me at pool a few times…”

David felt his brows furrow. “You don’t let me do anything. I beat you fair and square. You’re just mad that I’m better than you.”

Cook scoffed. “You are not. That was beginner’s luck.”

David quirked an eyebrow. “I won all four games last time. You’re trying to tell me that was all beginner’s luck?”

“Exactly! I dare you to try it again.”

David chuckled but shook his head again. “I don’t know, Cook. I’m still really tired. I’m not sure I’ll be good company tonight.”

“That’s why naps were invented, my friend,” Cook answered. David opened his mouth but Cook kept talking. “Go home and take one and we’ll be around to pick you up at seven, like always. I’ll see you later!” He called over his shoulder as he hurried away from David’s classroom, not giving him a chance to refuse.

As much as David wanted to just stay in, he couldn’t find it in himself to deny Cook’s request and, as a result found himself falling into bed as soon as he got home that afternoon, only waking when his phone started buzzing, alerting him to an incoming call.

“‘lo?” he mumbled into the phone.

“Based on how awake you sound, I’m going to assume that you took my advice. The question remains however- are you coming tonight?”

David sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and taking stock of himself. His headache was gone and he didn’t feel like he’d been run over by a Mac truck so there wasn’t really any reason to refuse. “If it will make you happy, yes, I’ll come.”

“Not only does it make me happy, I am ecstatic. We’ll be there in about ten minutes.” Without waiting for David’s acknowledgement, Cook hung up.

With a sigh David pushed himself up off the bed and wandered over to his basket of clothes that he had folded but not yet put away and pulled out a pair of jeans and the first shirt he came to and quickly dressing so he would be ready when Cook and the rest of the gang showed up.

The night was actually very sedate, at least where David’s friends were concerned. There was some sort of mini-scuffle over at the bar but David had long since learned to tune those out; it was usually better for his sanity if he didn’t know. In the middle of their second game (David had won the first and declared Cook’s theory of beginner’s luck to be invalid) Cook leaned against his pool cue and tilted his head, looking at David thoughtfully. “You know, blue is really your color,” he’d said gesturing at David’s shirt. David had missed his next shot by about a mile but thankfully Cook didn’t comment on it.

***

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Cook,” David said as he leaned in to unlock the door to his apartment. “I’m glad you talked me into going. Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Cook answered happily. “It wouldn’t have been quite as much fun without you. Hey, David,” he waited until David was looking at him again, “do you think we could do this again sometime? Except with a more exclusive guest list?”

David stared at Cook. His tone of voice suggested something more than just their mini-golf outing; David just wasn’t sure what Cook was getting at. “Um, what?”

“You know, just you and me, maybe? Do you want to do this again but…as a date?” Cook asked again after a minute, after it became clear that David didn’t have a longer answer attached to that question.

David blushed and rubbed his neck, avoiding Cook’s gaze. “Oh, um. I couldn’t.”

Cook frowned. “Did I…I thought you liked me?”

“I do! I do like you, Cook.”

Cook sighed, “I can’t believe I’m regressing to this but I thought you _liked me_ liked me.”

“That’s because I do _like you_ like you, Cook.”

“Well, then, what’s the problem? I like you, you like me. I’m not seeing a downside here.”

“I just… _can’t_ , you know?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know, David. You’re going to have to spell this one out for me. Is it because you’re Mormon or something?”

“What? _No_.” David crossed his arms and frowned at Cook. “It’s possible to be gay and Mormon. It’s like being Catholic and gay or something. Okay, maybe that one was a bad example but the point is they’re not as mutually exclusive as some people seem to think.”

“Well then, what is it?”

“We _work together_ , Cook. Isn’t it against regulations or something?”

Cook laughed and wrapped an arm around David’s shoulder. “It’s only against the school district’s rules for married people to work in the same building and last I checked I wasn’t asking for your hand in marriage. We can date all we want, as long as we don’t have PDA in front of the young, impressionable children.” The left corner of Cook’s mouth quirked up. “How about we try this again? David, would you like to go on a date with me sometime?”

David’s forehead wrinkled as he frowned. “I don’t know, Cook. I like you and I understand that it’s okay for teachers to date within the same school but I still don’t think I should. This is my first teaching job and I love it and I really don’t want to mess this up. I’m sorry. I hope you understand.”

Cook nodded, patted David on the back once before retracting his arm. “I understand. I’m not going to lie and say I’m not a little disappointed but I understand.”

David’s forehead smoothed. “Thanks, Cook.” He leaned up and pressed a kiss to Cook’s cheek before opening the door. “I’ll see you Monday morning.”

“Bright and early,” Cook agreed before turning to head back to the parking lot as David closed the door.

***

David waited until they were seated at their table to finally give in to Brooke’s badgering to tell her what had him preoccupied. “Cook asked me out Friday night,” David said in a low rush, half-hoping that Brooke wouldn’t hear him or would misunderstand him or something.

“He did?!” she squealed, bouncing in her seat. “When do you go on your first date?”

“We’re not.”

“Oh, you’re….wait. What do you mean you’re not?”

“I mean, I turned him down.”

David hazarded a glance at Brooke, whose mouth was hanging open. “What do you mean you turned him down? You like him, he likes you. What’s the problem?” Her face grew serious. “Is it what we talked about over Christmas?”

David shook his head. “I’ve come to terms with that. That’s not an issue.”

“Then what is the issue?”

David told Brooke what he had told Cook two nights previous, listing off the reasons he given. When he finished, she was giving him a disapproving look. “You sound like you’re trying to convince you more than you’re trying to convince me or Cook. I think you’re scared and you’re letting it hold you back, but you’re my best friend, David, and I’m going to support you however you need.” David bit his lip and nodded his thanks. “Alright, now where is that waiter? I’m hungry,” she said, clearly trying to change the subject and David had never been more grateful in his life.

***

Their lunchtime conversations had been a little strained and awkward to David after that Friday night but he was determined not to let it bother him. Well, too much anyway. He missed the easy back and forth he and Cook had shared only the week before, even if no one else had noticed it. They still met with everyone in the morning before school started, they still ate lunch together and they still carpooled to Paddy’s. There was just….something _missing_. Something he wanted back.

***

“I’ll see you Monday, Cook,” David said before turning to leave.

“Hey, uh, David,” Cook said quickly. David turned back to look at him and noticed Cook fiddling with his car keys, something he never did unless he was nervous. “I meant to ask, are you doing anything this weekend? You know, for Valentine’s day?” 

David frowned and shook his head, confused. “No. Nothing big anyway; I was just planning on staying home and watching whatever was on TV or something.”

“Do you---I mean, would you want to hang out and watch whatever’s on TV together?” David watched as Cook bit his bottom lip. Something was definitely up with the other man, David just wasn’t sure what. “Cook, I told you that I couldn’t and you promised you wouldn’t push,” he finally answered.

Cook cocked his head to the side. “What? Oh, I didn’t mean as a date. There’s no point in both of us sitting home alone pathetically if we can hang out together. But, you know, if it _were_ a date we could watch _Finding Nemo_ and cuddle on the couch….” A lopsided grin grew across his face as his eyes lit up with mirth, all signs of nervousness gone.

David closed his eyes and shook his head. “I knew I was going to regret telling you that that was my favorite movie.”

“Oh, come on, man, I think it’s adorable,” Cook replied, chuckling softly.

“Adorable? Great. That’s exactly what every twenty-three year old man wants to be called. Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with you, Cook.”

“You wound me, Archuleta. I meant it as a compliment. Now, if I try pinch your cheek, that’s when you should be worried.” David’s hands flew to his face to cover the body part in question. “Who said I was talking about those cheeks?” Cook’s grin had grown along with David’s belief that Cook was more than a little off his rocker. “Sorry, man,” Cook said sobering quickly as he noticed the blush creeping across David’s skin. “I make inappropriate jokes when I’m nervous; that was out of line.”

David shook his head again. “You are absolutely insane, you know that?”

“I tell myself that every day.” Cook’s grin was back. “You never did answer me about Saturday though.”

“You’re incorrigible but I guess I don’t see the harm in hanging out with you on Saturday. Insanity’s not contagious, last I heard,” David answered, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Come by my place around 7:00 or so?”

“While your enthusiasm is overwhelming, that sounds fantastic. I’ll bring the pizza,” Cook answered and headed back to his car before David could say anything else. “Bye,” he called after Cook, feeling slightly lame but Cook turned around to wave back so maybe he wasn’t that lame after all.

***

David sat on his couch anxiously playing on his laptop to distract himself. Sure, Cook had said that he was respecting David’s wishes and that this wasn’t a date but it definitely felt like one and that had David on edge for reasons he really didn’t want to think about. He forfeited yet another game of solitaire when someone tapped the beat of “shave and a haircut, two bits” on his door, making David jump. “What is wrong with you?” he said angrily to himself as he walked to his front door. “It’s just Cook, there’s no need to be nervous.” With that settled, he opened his door to find Cook leaning against the doorframe wearing a simple black t-shirt that showed off several of his tattoos (tattoos that David definitely _did not_ find attractive, not at all) and tight blue jeans.

Cook smiled at David and held up the bag in his left hand, a bag that definitely did not look like it was holding pizza. “I talked to Brooke last night and she informed me you don’t actually like pizza, something you could have told me, you know; it’s not like you would have offended me. She also told me that you’re crazy about pad Thai. Luckily, there is a little hole in the wall Thai place down the block from my apartment that makes the most amazing pad Thai ever, or so I’ve been told. I’ve never actually had the stuff but I figured that now was as good a time as any to try it.”

“This still isn’t a date, Cook,” David said sharply, more as a reminder to himself than anything else, as he gestured for the other man to come in.

Cook’s smile grew teasing as he toed off his shoes. “Of course not. I don’t see _Finding Nemo_ anywhere so it couldn’t possibly be a date.”

“I hate you, so very much,” David complained as he headed to the kitchen to retrieve chopsticks for himself and a fork for Cook. Apparently he was never going to live down telling Cook that _Finding Nemo_ was his favorite movie; he really should have lied all those months ago.

“Is that anyway to talk to the man who brought you pad Thai?” Cook’s voice came from the direction of his living room, amusement still evident.

“It is when the man who brought me pad Thai is acting like a jerk,” David answered laughing. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“Water’s fine with me,” Cook answered from the doorway of the kitchen. “In fact, point me in the direction of the glasses and I’ll even get it myself.” David pointed silently as he continued rifling in the drawer. His chopsticks had to be in there somewhere. “Whatcha looking for?” David jumped when Cook’s chin settled on his shoulder as the other man tried to look into the drawer with him. “Ow. That kind of hurt,” Cook said, rubbing his chin.

David’s hand flew up to cover his mouth. “Oh, my gosh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, you startled me! Are you okay? Did you bite your tongue? Do you need ice?”  
Cook chuckled. “Want to kiss it and make it all better?” David’s eyes narrowed but before he could say anything Cook shook his head. “I’m just joking. Anyway, I’m fine, David, I promise. It was my fault; I didn’t mean to startle you. What were you looking for anyway?”

“My chopsticks. I hate eating Thai food with a fork but I can’t seem to find them.” David shot the open drawer behind him a dirty look as though it was the drawer’s fault he couldn’t find his chopsticks. He closed it before reaching for the drawer next to it. “I guess forks it is though.”

“Did you want water too?” Cook asked as he walked to the cabinet David had indicated earlier. At David’s nod, Cook reached in to grab two glasses before walking over to the refrigerator to fill them up. Everything gathered from the kitchen, the two headed into the living room to the waiting food. “What did you want to watch, anyway?”

David shrugged. “I hadn’t really thought about it, honestly. Maybe we should just start flipping through the channels to see what we can find?” 

Cook shrugged back. “I can’t think of a better plan so let’s do it.” David picked the remote up from the end table next to him and hit the power button turning the television on. He started thumbing through the channels, pausing occasionally when something caught his or Cook’s eye before continuing on, neither able to agree on a channel yet.

David was starting to believe they would never find anything to watch when Cook suddenly sat up straighter, looking interested. “Wait, wait, wait! Go back.” Not sure what had caught Cook’s eye but willing to go along with it, David slowly flipped channels in the other direction until Cook told him to stop. Cook turned to David with an excited grin on his face. “I think I’ve found what we’re watching tonight!”

David looked at the commercial skeptically. “An eighties movies marathon? Are you sure?”

Cook’s jaw dropped. “Dude, it’s _The Princess Bride_ , _The Breakfast Club_ and _Weird Science_. These are classics. You can’t tell me you’ve never seen any of these movies.” When David didn’t say anything, Cook’s face grew horrified. “You’re kidding me. You’ve never seen any of these? It’s settled, this is what we’re watching; you have been deprived and we are going to correct that tonight.”

Slightly offended but more amused than anything, David set the remote down on the end table again. “Just so you know I reserve the right to change the channel at any point.”

“Deal,” Cook agreed, clearly convinced that David wouldn’t feel the need to change the channel.

It turned out that Cook had been right in his assumption. Within minutes of _The Princess Bride_ , David was captivated. He could definitely identify with the kid in the beginning- at twenty-three he _still_ got his cheek pinched whenever he saw his abuelita and he hated it more than he could express, though he knew better than to be rude and ask her to stop (if only because he’d could already hear his mother’s offended ‘David James! Didn’t I teach you better manners than that?!’). David may or may not have gotten misty-eyed when Westley was murdered, much to Cook’s amusement. “Don’t worry,” he had assured him, patting David’s hand that was resting on the couch between them. “It all works out in the end.”

By the time Westley and Buttercup were riding off into the sunrise, David was slouched low on the couch with Cook mirroring his position on the other side of the couch. By the time John Bender walked across the football field and fist-pumped victoriously at the end of _The Breakfast Club_ the two men had migrated to the center of the couch, David’s head cushioned on Cook’s shoulder as they watched through sleep-heavy eyes.

“As essential as I think _Weird Science_ is to your cultural education, I’m going to have to ask that we call it a night,” Cook said through a yawn as a commercial advertising Snuggies played. “We can pick this up at a later date, if that’s okay with you.”

David nodded, not moving from his position. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Do you mind if I crash on your couch? Because I’ve got to say that I don’t think I can stay awake for the drive home.”

“That’s fine; I’ve got some extra blankets and stuff that you can borrow. Just give me a few minutes to get the energy to go get them,” David answered, fighting off a yawn of his own.

Cook laughed before prodding at David. “I have to warn you, if you don’t move now I’m going to fall asleep and use you as a pillow.”

“Alright, alright, I’m going. There’s no need to resort to threats.” David uncurled himself from his position and headed in the direction of his bedroom. He reappeared a few minutes later with an extra pillow and a few blankets. “The couch doesn’t fold out so I’m not sure how comfortable you’ll be,” he told Cook, tone apologetic.

Cook shook his head slowly. “It’s all good. At this point, I think I could probably sleep on the floor and I wouldn’t notice it. Good night, David.”

“Good night, Cook.” David gave a small wave before trudging back towards his bedroom to collapse in his bed, snoring almost immediately upon hitting the pillow.

***

David awoke to his cell phone alarm trilling at him that it was time to wake up, otherwise he was going to miss church. He fumbled around, eyes half-opened as he searched for his phone. Phone finally found, he pressed the ‘end’ button, effectively silencing it. He stretched before sliding out of his bed and padding in the direction of the kitchen. It wasn’t until he was stumbling through the living room and was presented with the visual evidence that he remembered that Cook had spent the night. Quickly backtracking, he picked up his phone from where it was still lying on his bed and sent Brooke a quick text message to let her know that he wasn’t going to be able to make it to service that morning. After all, it was just plain rude to wake up your guests only to kick them out minutes later.

His errand accomplished, David began the trek back through his apartment again, pausing briefly to check on Cook. His face was slack with sleep and though David was sure that he couldn’t be completely comfortable curled up on David’s small couch the way that he was, he was still out like a light. Once he reached the kitchen, he paused, unsure what Cook ate for breakfast. After a moment’s worth of internal debate, David decided that one could never go wrong with pancakes and set about pulling the ingredients out of his cabinets.

He was almost ready to start cooking them, whisking the last of the ingredients in as the griddle finished heating, when Cook stuck his head in the doorway of the kitchen. “Morning,” he greeted, voice still rough with sleep as he tried to flatten down his hair’s valiant attempts to defy gravity and possibly escape his head.

David smiled at the sight before him. “Good morning. I know you usually have coffee at school but I don’t have any here. I’m sorry.” Cook waved off his apology as he fought off a yawn, trudging further into the kitchen. “There’s orange juice in the fridge if you want any of that.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cook answered, opening the cabinet with the glasses and pulling down two, taking them with him to the refrigerator to fill with the juice. He set one down next to the griddle where David had the first few pancakes cooking before taking a sip from the cup still clasped in his hand.

“Thank you,” he said the nervous feeling from the night before returning. He fidgeted with his glass, feeling more and more like this was one of those “morning after”s he’d heard tale about but never actually experienced for himself.

“Don’t mention it; you’re making me breakfast, you are clearly the better person. After all, all I did was give you orange juice out of your own refrigerator.” Cook turned so that his back was resting against the counter and he could see David’s face. “So tell me, David…” he trailed off and David stared back, thrown enough off-kilter by how domestic and _right_ this all felt that he wasn’t sure what Cook was going to ask any more. “Did you have a good time last night? Because I was kind of rude taking over your tv like that and making you watch what I wanted to watch.”

David smiled easily at the other man, his anxiety starting to fade. Between the night before and that morning, something had fallen back into place. This was beginning to feel like one of their lunches, like something familiar; he could do this. “Of course I had a good time. You were right about those movies. I can’t believe I had never seen them before, especially _The Princess Bride_.”

Cook chuckled. “We’ll have to do this again so that you can see what else you’ve been missing.”

“I’d like that,” David said, feeling the weight he hadn’t known resided in his chest lighten as he slid the first few pancakes onto a plate and poured more batter onto the griddle.

***

Brooke cornered David in the parking lot Monday morning. “Care to tell me what made you miss church yesterday?”

David sighed and continued walking towards the building. “Cook ended up staying the night on Saturday and I thought it would be rude to leave while he was sleeping or to wake him up and kick him out. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Brooke raised an eyebrow. “Not that big of a deal? Cook _stayed the night_. That’s huge, David. Isn’t that moving a little fast though?”

“Wait, what? What are… Oh, gosh! Cook slept on the **couch** , Brooke!”

Brooke snorted. “Well, that’s a lousy end to a date.”

“It wasn’t a date,” David said defensively. “I told you, I turned him down.”

“Sure sounds like it was a date,” she sing-songed. With that, Brooke turned down the hallway leading to her classroom. “Think about it, David.”

***

It was Tuesday afternoon which meant that it was time for his favorite class. David knew he wasn’t supposed to have favorites but there was just something about this class; he couldn’t really identify what it was but for some reason, he adored them maybe a little bit more than the rest of his classes. It absolutely had nothing to do with their teacher, nothing at all. He looked up from where he was pulling out the hand instruments when he heard the door opening, smile already breaking out across his face. His smile only grew wider as he took in the sight before him. “What is all this?” he asked, waving a hand in front of him, as though it weren’t obvious what he was talking about.

Cook grinned and looked as though he were five years old himself. “Dr. Seuss’s birthday is March 2nd and I thought we’d celebrate by dedicating a whole week to his stories. Today we read _The Cat in the Hat_ , as I’m sure you can tell.”

“I definitely can,” he answered, taking in all the red and white striped paper hats adorning the children’s (and Cook’s) heads. “It looks like you guys have had fun today.”

There was a chorus of “Yeah!” followed by several voices asking “Do you like my hat, Mr. Archuleta?” all at once. “Absolutely,” David said. “I love all of your hats! They look amazing.”

“Tell him about his surprise, Mr. Cook!” Sandy said, tugging on Cook’s pants as she bounced on the balls of her feet, causing her hat to sway precariously on her head.

“I have a surprise? What kind of a surprise?” David looked at Cook, curiosity getting the better of him. David suddenly realized that Cook hadn’t taken his hands out from behind his back the entire conversation, which meant he had to be holding whatever the surprise was.

“Well, it was the kids’ idea but I ended up being the one to make it,” Cook hedged.

“Come on, Mr. Cook! Just show it to him!” Jade urged, her face lit up with excitement.

“We made you your very own _Cat in the Hat_ hat,” Cook told him, showing him what he had been holding behind his back. With a grin that Cook returned, David took the hat from him and placed it on his own head.

“Do you like it, Mr. Archuleta?” Blake asked.

“I love it,” he answered, eyes still on Cook. “Thank you.”

***

David bit his lip as he listened to the phone ring, praying that Cook would answer. He didn’t know what the other man’s plans were that weekend and there really was no telling where he could be on a beautiful Saturday afternoon like the one David could see through the window. When the phone went to Cook’s voicemail he hung up and dialed the number again. On the third ring he heard a sleepy, confused-sounding “Hello?”

“Cook!”David cried in relief.

“David?” Cook’s voice sounded instantly more awake. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Maybe?” David answered and couldn’t quite keep the quiver out of his voice.

“Maybe?” Cook parroted back. “What the hell does ‘maybe’ mean and why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“It means,” David trailed off and took a breath to steady himself. “It means that I kind of wrecked my car and I’m a little shaken up by it.”

“You _what_? The full story this time, please, David.”

“I was driving home from the store and somehow my tire blew while I was on the overpass and I only stopped spinning because my car hit the concrete barrier?” David said in a rush, almost as if he didn’t want Cook to catch it all.

“You **what**?! Are you hurt? Where are you? Do I need to come get you?”

“I’m okay. I’m not hurt, just a little shook up, I promise,” he answered, trying to make his tone as soothing as possible, remembering Cook’s high blood pressure and not wanting to add to the problem. “I’m sitting in the Starbucks near Paddy’s and, uh, yes, please?”

“Okay, sit tight, I’m on my way,” Cook promised and David could hear rustling on Cook’s end of the line as he presumably found his keys and wallet. “Do you want me to stay on the phone with you? You know, to keep your mind off of things?”

“That’s not really necessary,” David thought about saying before rethinking that idea and answering with a mild, “Yes, please?”

“You’ve got it.” David heard the distinct rumble of Cook’s car starting and the radio being quickly shut off as Cook spoke. Cook asked questions like what he went to the store for and how his family is doing in obvious attempts to distract David. When all of David’s answers began to consist of five words or less, Cook stopped asking and began telling David stories about what happened in his class the week before. David was grateful for the mindless distraction, always amused at the stories that come out of Cook’s classroom.

Cook was in the middle of a story about Eddie and Stacy and a handful of markers when David spotted his car pulling into the Starbucks parking lot from where he was pacing next to the wide window at the front of the store. David quickly turned and rushed out the door, hanging up his cell phone when he saw Cook opening his car door. They met in the middle of the sidewalk between the building and the parking lot, Cook pulling David into a hug that he doesn’t have the energy, or the inclination, to pull away from. Cook was murmuring things like “Don’t you ever scare me like that again” and “So glad you’re okay” into David’s hair and all he could do was hold on, face buried in the crook of Cook’s neck and hands fisted in the back of his shirt, his nerves finally beginning to calm down, heart no longer racing.

A few minutes passed before Cook moved to let go of David. Strangely reluctant to, David mirrored his actions, taking another steadying breath now that his heart rate was under control. Cook leaned back far enough to look David in the eye. “Are you ready to go home?”

David nodded silently, moving towards Cook’s car, his plastic bag from his trip to the store hanging from one hand. A minute later Cook turned back onto the highway from the lot, the radio once again turned on, and the volume on low, just loud enough to break the silence in the car. When they stopped at a red light on the frontage road, Cook began laughing softly. “…do I want to know?” David asked hesitantly, noticing the slight smile on Cook’s face.

“Oh, nothing, nothing,” Cook said, waving a hand dismissively. “I was just thinking that this makes me your knight in shining armor. You make quite the attractive damsel in distress, just so you know.”

David scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I thought knights in shining armor were supposed to be attractive. I think I need to sue someone for false advertising,” he retorted, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards before breaking into a fit of (maybe slightly hysterical) giggles at Cook’s indignant expression.

“I will have you know that I am _highly_ attractive, thank you very much.”

“And modest too,” David added, his good humor slowly returning the longer he spent with Cook.

“Most definitely,” Cook agreed.

David chuckled again before sobering. “In all seriousness though, thank you Cook. This means a lot to me.”

Cook took his eyes off the road to glance at David. “Anytime, David. Just…next time, try not to scare the shit out of me. If you want me to rescue you, all you have to do is ask.”

David smiled at Cook. “I’ll remember that.”

***

David sighed as he hung up the phone before scrubbing a hand through his hair. He walked out of his bedroom where he’d gone for privacy to see Cook still sitting where he’d left him sprawled on David’s couch, flipping through the channels. “Hey, Cook?” Cook made a quiet noise to let David know he was listening, continuing his search for something to watch. “You know what you said about being my knight in shining armor and that I just needed to ask next time?”

“Yeeees,” Cook answered, dragging out the word as if he wasn’t really sure he wanted to know where this was going.

“Could you consider this me asking? I talked to the insurance company and the rent-a-car company and since I’m under 25 they want to charge a premium because, apparently, if you’re under 25, you’re much more likely to be a reckless driver? I’m not quite sure on their logic. Anyway, uh, if possible, I’d like to avoid that so do you think you could maybe give me a ride to and from work until I get my car sorted out? I’d give you gas money to help out but don’t feel like you have to say yes or anything. I understand that it’s a lot to ask so it’s okay if you say no—“ By this point David had begun pacing across his small living room, gesticulating wildly.

“David,” Cook interrupted hands held up in front of him in a pacifying manner. “I’ll do it. Calm down. It’s not that far out of my way to come pick you up in the morning and drop you off in the afternoon, I promise.”

David looked at Cook hopefully. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Positive,” Cook assured him. “Now come here and watch _Nemo_ with me. You need to relax.”

David felt the corner of his mouth creep up as he walked to the couch and dropped onto the spot Cook had patted beside him. “This still isn’t a date.”

Cook waved his hand at David. “Yeah, yeah, rub it in. One day, Archuleta, one day you won’t be able to resist my charms anymore and you’ll say yes.”

“One day, maybe, but not today,” he retorted, smirking at Cook before laughing happily and bumping his shoulder companionably against Cook’s.

***

David looked up from his lesson plan book as he heard Cook walk into the teachers’ lounge muttering to himself. He did a double take and blinked three times before deciding that he _wasn’t_ seeing things and involuntarily burst out laughing. His eyes widened ( _rude much?_ ) and he slapped a hand over his mouth, sobering instantly as Cook made his way over to where David was sitting.

“What…” David trailed off as he looked up at an inexplicably **purple** Cook. “What happened to you?”

“We’re studying the five senses this week and I had the bright idea that we should paint with ice cubes when we discussed the sense of touch because, you know, _cold_.”

David nodded; it made sense to him so far. “Seems logical though that still doesn’t explain why you’re imitating a grape.”

Cook rubbed the back of his neck leaving a purple streak and _might_ have blushed though it was hard to tell through the purple tint. “There was a little powdered tempera paint incident. All I know for sure is that I’m never going to get this out of my clothes and Kelly’s mother is going to hate me forever because her daughter is going home today looking like a purple people eater.”

David’s mouth opened and shut itself a few times as he attempted to respond but couldn’t seem to come up with anything adequate. Finally he blurted out, “At least you look good in purple?”

 _Smooth, David, real smooth._ He hazarded a look up at Cook through his lashes to discover that the older man was biting his lower lip and shaking with silent laughter. David wasn’t sure he really wanted to know because he’d learned that sometimes with Cook, it was just better to be kept in the dark but he worked up his nerve anyway. “What’s so funny?”

“At least I look good in purple?” Cook parroted back between chuckles. “I’ll show you who looks good in purple!”

David had a split second to react, shoving his lesson plan book out of harm’s way, before Cook was on him, pulling him into a massive bear hug and refusing to let go despite David’s pleas, effectively covering him in the purple powder. Cook ( _finally!_ ) released David and stood back to survey his handiwork. He frowned tapping his index finger against his chin, leaving another purple smudge on the skin under his beard as he tried to figure out what was missing from his masterpiece. 

“Oh, my heck! Did you really have to do that?!” David looked up from surveying the sad state of his clothes (This was his favorite shirt! What was Cook thinking?!) to see Cook still looking at him thoughtfully; David’s gaze followed him warily before Cook’s eyes lit up and an evil grin spread across his face. While David stumbled backwards over his chair trying to get away from Cook and whatever horrible idea he’d thought up, the other man swiped a hand through the powder still clinging to his shirt before grabbing an arm to steady David and reaching around to smack his…his _rear_.

Satisfied, Cook stood back and admired the fruits of his efforts. “You know,” he said solicitously, mouth quirking up in a half-smile, “You really _do_ look good in purple.”

David glanced up from where he was craning his neck to look at Cook’s handprint on his trousers. “I really hate you,” he answered pitifully.

“But I _looooooove_ you,” Cook said back, fluttering his eyes flirtatiously in David’s direction.

A cough from across the room made both of the men jump, breaking the playful moment. David snuck a look across the room at Danielle while Cook stared openly at her. “What?” he asked.

She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Get a room already. The rest of us are tired of watching you flirt,” she said, her tone of voice leaving no question of her ill mood.

Cook rolled his eyes before turning back to David. “You all done here?” David nodded as he stooped to retrieve his lesson plan book from where it had landed on the floor. “Then, as always, your chariot awaits.” Cook made a sweeping gesture toward the door.

David gifted Cook with a longsuffering stare. “You keep this up and I’m finding someone else to give me a ride until my car is better.”

“And miss out on my sparkling wit? You wouldn’t!” Cook clutched his heart dramatically. “I’m hurt, Archuleta. Wounded, really.”

“You’ll get over it,” David deadpanned before leading the way out of the room, not even looking to see if Cook was following.

***

David worried his lower lip with his teeth as he tried to work up the courage to call Cook. He really wasn’t sure why he was so nervous about it, except for the fact that he felt awkward asking the other man to give him a ride so that he could go grocery shopping. After the second deleted text message, he’d decided it would probably be easier to just call him. Which was true, except for how it wasn’t. Shaking his head at himself, he quickly hit the button for Cook on his speed dial before he could change his mind again.

Cook answered on the second ring, clearly half-asleep. “David? It’s Spring Break. Why are you even awake?”

“It’s 9:30, Cook! Why are you still asleep?”

Cook’s frown was audible. “It’s **Spring Break** , David. You’re supposed to sleep in and be lazy all week.”

“Oh, uh, in that case, never mind. Go back to sleep,” David said, flapping his free hand in a “go on” motion even though Cook couldn’t see it.

“Wait, David,” Cook said before David could hang up the phone. “What did you need?”

“Nothing important,” David tried.

“Uh-uh, that’s not gonna work. Let’s try this again. What do you need, David?”

“A ride to the grocery store?” David said, once again cursing his car. “Like I said, it’s not that important, you can go back to sleep.”

“Oh, no you don’t. I can’t possibly let Mr. Archuleta starve to death over Spring Break. My class would never forgive me. Give me 30 minutes and I’ll be there,” Cook said before yawning loudly. “On second thought, make that an hour.”

It turned out that grocery shopping with Cook was definitely an experience. David had tried to tell him that he could wait in the car or go run whatever other errands he needed to and Cook had continually refused, saying he’d rather walk around the grocery store with David. Cook kept attempting to sneak things into David’s basket, things that David either didn’t want or didn’t need- everything from Froot Loops (Cook had been scandalized when he realized David didn’t actually like that kind of cereal) to trashy romance novels (“Seriously, David? You’ve never even read one? You don’t know what you’re missing out on. These things are hilarious.”). When he wasn’t trying to sneak things into David’s basket, he was busy trying to sneak them _out_ muttering things like “Why do you need spinach? That stuff is nasty!” If shopping with Cook was anything like shopping with children, David was beginning to see why his mother had always insisted on going to the grocery store by herself.

“What’s next?” Cook asked as they put the last of David’s groceries away. He leaned on the counter flipping through his newest book, _Cinderella on His Doorstep_. (“ _Once upon a time there was a girl who shied away from the limelight…. Until she arrived at Château de Belles Fleurs and became the star of her own real-life fairy tale…._ Dana is stunned when the gorgeous château owner, Alex Martin, notices _her_. She might not have a fairy godmother but she'll show Alex that there's a confident, vibrant woman waiting to burst out of Dana Lofgren!” He’d read laughing from the back. “Doesn’t that sound like a winner, David?”)

David had shrugged. “I’ve finished what I needed to get done.”

“I’m going to be lame but I actually enjoy them. Do you have any board games?” Cook had asked.

“Maybe a few?” David frowned. “I don’t remember what my mom sent with me.” A look in the hall closet revealed _Monopoly_ and _Clue_. “Well, you can’t really play _Clue_ with just two people. Are you up for a game of _Monopoly_?”

Their game of Monopoly had ended up taking _hours_. David had wanted to give up several times, but Cook kept insisting that they needed to finish it, that it was important for some reason. They took breaks to stretch their legs and to eventually cook and eat dinner using David’s newly bought groceries. By the time Cook finally gave up on insisting that they finish the game, it was horribly late and David insisted that Cook stay the night again. Cook had tried to refuse but yawned halfway through and finally gave into David’s demands.

***

Thursday Brooke surprised David, knocking at his door in the early afternoon and inviting herself inside once he opened the door. “Come on, get presentable,” she prodded looking pointedly at his old, raggedy pajama pants.

“I’m almost sure I don’t want to know but why?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a diabolical plan, David, I just want to go to a movie. I didn’t want to go by myself though and I thought you’d like to go with me since I haven’t seen you all week.”

She had a point, it didn’t exactly sound diabolical but knowing Brooke, it easily could be. “Give me ten minutes,” he said before disappearing into his bedroom in search of more appropriate clothes. When he returned, he found Brooke sitting on his couch, reading what looked like one of those trashy romance novels that Cook was trying to get him to read earlier in the week.

“Something you want to tell me, David?” she asked holding it up so he could see the title. It _was_ Cook’s trashy romance novel. “Since when do you read Harlequins?”

“I don’t,” he answered. “Cook does. He bought it earlier this week and must have left it here.”

“Oooh.” Her face lit up. “Cook is leaving stuff at your place now?”

David felt his eyebrows scrunch as he tried to figure out where she was going with that. “No? He took me to the grocery store on Monday because I was out of food. He kept trying to hide romance novels in my cart and I kept telling him I didn’t want them so he bought it. I guess he forgot it though.”

Brooke looked positively gleeful by the time David finished talking. “You went _grocery shopping_ together? That’s so domestic of you. Why aren’t you dating again? You two make such a cute old married couple and you know it.”

“No we don’t,” David argued. “Don’t we have a movie to catch?”

“You’re so cute when you get flustered,” Brooke teased as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

David really wasn’t sure what movie they saw by the time it finished, he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts. The more he thought about it, the more Brooke was right. He and Cook were practically dating already, by most people’s definitions. They liked each other, they spent Valentine’s together, Cook rescued him when his car stranded him, and they had spent a good portion of Spring Break together between the grocery shopping on Monday, the movie marathon on Tuesday (David’s pop culture education was apparently Cook’s mission now), and the bowling on Wednesday. By the time Cook dropped him off Friday night after Paddy’s night, David had made his decision. After all, faint heart never won fair maiden or something like that, anyway.

Cook walked David to his door, as had become their habit whenever it was either Cook or David’s turn to drive, Cook telling David a story about his first guitar. When he finished, he paused as if unsure what to say next. David took that as his cue and leaned up to brush a chaste kiss against his lips.

“David, what?” Cook asked. “I mean, not that I’m not over the moon right now, but what are you doing?”

David shrugged. “Everyone thinks we’re dating and we practically are anyway so we might as well enjoy ourselves.” An impish smile grew across his face. “Anyway, aren’t you the one who was always telling me that one day your charms would wear me down?”

Cook pretended to preen. “It was my ruggedly handsome good looks, I’m sure.”

David laughed. “If you say so. I need to get some sleep so I’ll see you when you pick me up on Monday.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Cook replied beaming before leaning in to kiss David on the cheek. “Good night, David.”

***

Much to David’s surprise, things didn’t actually change that much after that night, just little things. Little things like the fact that David could hold Cook’s hand in the teachers’ lounge or that Cook would give him a kiss after lunch before they had to go back to class, that more often than not, they would have dinner together when Cook drove David home. Two weeks after they had begun dating, Cook declared that they needed to go on an “official date”. Amused, David had agreed.

Cook’s idea of an “official date” appeared to be the zoo which charmed David. It made sense when put in context of Cook’s pseudo-dates that he had taken David on- the several to the mini-golf course, the bowling alley, even the museum when they had an exhibit on Studio Ghibli (one that David had been dying to see but hadn’t told anyone about it, though Cook somehow figured it out and had even bought him a miniature stuffed _Totoro_ to commemorate the trip). David did have to admit that he was more than a little confused as to why Cook was pushing that the aquarium had to be their first stop, but he figured there was no harm in humoring the other man. Once in the aquarium, Cook steered David over to the tropical fish tank.

“Ta-da!” Cook said, gesturing at the tank. 

David felt his brow crinkle. “Ta-da? I don’t get it.”

Cook’s smile grew impish and he pointed at the clown fish swimming near the bottom of the tank. “It’s Nemo. It’s not officially a date until Nemo is involved. Now Nemo is involved and this is officially a date. No backing out now, Archuleta. You’re stuck with me.”

David closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. “You’re deranged, you know this, right?”

“Yep!” Cook’s grin had grown when David opened his eyes. “Just remember, you’re the one who agreed to date me!” Cook cackled as he grabbed David’s hand and led him through the winding passages out of the aquarium. “Now for a real exhibit. Let’s go!”

By the end of the day, David was tired but happy, curled up on his couch with Cook watching yet another movie. “Such an old married couple already,” he could hear Brooke’s voice saying but he really didn’t care, content to be where he was and he said as much to Cook.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Cook said, his hand still rubbing circles on David’s back as he pressed a kiss to the younger man’s forehead.

***

Once mid-April hit, the talk about summer vacation and what everyone had planned for it really began to take off. The teachers’ lounge was full of discussions about who was taking their kids to DisneyWorld that summer, who was getting a second job to make up for the lack of income summer meant for teachers, who was simply going to take the summer off and be lazy. Carly had decided on going back to Ireland for about a month to visit her family since it had been a few years, Brooke was going to Arizona to visit for a few weeks then she was going to work in the bookstore that she apparently always worked at during the summer.

Michael was firmly in the “summer is a time for being lazy and you will not catch me lifting a finger to work” category while Cook maintained he wasn’t sure yet. Brooke made sure to tell David that she was sure it was because Cook was waiting to see what David was doing. David didn’t think she was right but to each their own. No matter how hard anybody tried to pry David’s summer plans from him, he kept insisting that he wanted to make sure they were going to happen before he told anyone.

***

Dishes safely put away in his dishwasher David returned to the living room and collapsed on the couch next to Cook. Cook lifted his arm and David snuggled in close, leaning his head on Cook’s chest sighing contently. Cook kissed the top of David’s head before leaning his head on the spot. “You okay, babe?”

David nodded drowsily. “It was just a hard week. All of the kids were ready for summer vacation, especially the fifth graders since they’re going to a new school in a few months. Honestly, as much as I’ve loved this year, I’m glad that it’s summer vacation.”

“About that,” Cook said conversationally, “Are you ever going to tell me what you have planned for this summer? Every time I’ve asked for the past few months all you’ve ever told me is that you weren’t sure yet. Have you made up your mind?”

David pulled away and sat up so he could see Cook’s face. “Well, I was thinking about driving to Utah and spending some time there.” 

Cook’s face fell slightly before he forced a slight smile. “That will be fun. I’m sure your family will be overjoyed to have you for the summer.”

David smirked slightly. “I said I’d spend _some_ time there. I’ve also heard Missouri is nice this time of year. Though I’d need someone to show me around….” he trailed off, waiting for Cook to catch on.

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

David nodded. “My family can’t wait to meet you and I would love to meet your family.” He paused as if a thought had just occurred to him. “That is…if you want to… I guess it’s kind of sudden since we’ve only been dating a few months--”

Cook cut David off as he gathered him into his arms, burying his face in his boyfriend’s neck. “I would love that, more than I can say.”

***

 _One Year Later_

The last bell of the year, the one that released the kids to enjoy all the fun summer had to offer, had just finished sounding and, while David was sad to see the year end, he was also excited for what the summer had in store for him. He and Cook had been together for a little over a year now and everything was perfect, as far as David was concerned. Caught up in his musings, David jumped as his pocket vibrated. He quickly fished it out to look at it, breaking into a smile as he read the name on the display- _Cook_. He pushed the button to open the message which was short and to the point. “ _Meet me in my classroom. Five minutes._ ” Confused but curious to find out what his boyfriend had planned now he quickly texted back his assent. David finished cleaning the little bit that he had left out in his classroom, putting the jingle bells and the triangles away in their cabinet before heading back to his desk. He checked the clock on his cell phone; sure it had been five minutes. The clock assured him it had only been three. “By the time I get over there it will have been five minutes, right?” David mused out loud to himself, curiosity getting the better of him.

David gathered his few things that needed to go home with him and headed out of his classroom pausing only to lock the door. He made his way across the school to the kindergarten hallway and paused outside of Cook’s classroom, glancing at his phone again to confirm that it had been the mandated five minutes. He cracked the door open and called through the crack, “Cook, it’s me. Can I come in?” 

He heard a deep sigh before Cook answered. “Yeah, come on in, babe.” David opened the door the rest of the way and walked in, smiling at his boyfriend who was standing in the corner of the classroom, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Cook returned David’s smile, though there was something slightly reserved about it. 

“What’s the big surprise?” David asked walking over to his boyfriend and giving him a quick kiss. Cook’s smile became slightly more genuine. “See for yourself,” he said gesturing at the low table next to them. 

David glanced at the table before staring open mouthed at his boyfriend. “Cook…what…” he trailed off.

“I know this was kind of a dorky way for me to ask but it felt appropriate and I mean it,” Cook said quickly, looking intently into the younger man’s eyes. “Will you?”

David looked back down at the table where Cook had used the wooden alphabet blocks from one of his learning centers to spell out “Will you marry me?” then to the ring box clasped in Cook’s hand. David gazed at the man in front of him. Was he ready for this? “It’s not even legal here…” David protested weakly, words and emotions flying around inside of him, making it hard to think.

Cook gave a small chuckle. “Is that your only protest? In that case, we can run away to Canada or to another state that does allow gay marriage or we could go to the courthouse and have a civil union, whatever label you want to use. I don’t care what you call it. All I know, David, is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t even care how many showings of _Finding Nemo_ that means for my future.”

A small smile crept across David’s face. He took in Cook’s hopeful yet fearful expression as he thought. The love and affection Cook felt for him showed clearly in his eyes and the longer he took to answer the older man, the more Cook chewed on his lower lip anxiously. Was he ready for this? There really was only one answer, always had been since the first time Cook had asked him out. “Yes,” he answered voice strong and laughed happily as Cook swept him up in his arms, kissing him for all he was worth before placing the simple silver band on his ring finger.


End file.
